Playing the Building

All buildings make their own sounds, be they creaks, sighs, or groans. But can a structure be used to make music? That is the premise of the intriguing "Playing the Building" project. The 17,000-square-foot, interactive sound installation uses the metal beams, plumbing, heating pipes, and electrical conduits of Aria at La Jeune Lune to create music that guests compose themselves. Participants will sit at a retrofitted antique organ at the center of the first-floor gallery and tap keys to trigger sounds from various elements in the building. While the piece, created by artist David Byrne, is site-specific, other buildings in Stockholm, New York, and London have made music as well.
Mondays-Wednesdays, Sundays, 12-7 p.m.; Fridays, 12-10 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Starts: Nov. 5. Continues through Dec. 4, 2012